1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a power feed device for sewer and drain cleaning cable and, more particularly, to a power feed device that is used with a hand held drain line cleaning device.
2. Background Art
Hand held rotary powered drain cleaners are well known in the art. Generally, they employ a power source, such as an electric drill, which is attached to a rotatable drum unit which houses a sewer and drain cleaning cable having a small diameter. One end of the cable is fed from the drum through a tube which is attached to the drum and a locking device such as a drill chuck. In operation, the cable is pulled by hand from the drum through the drill chuck and fed into the drain and conduit line. As bends or obstructions in the line are encountered the chuck or locking device is secured to the cable, and the cable is rotated by the drill.
A rotatable sleeve allows a person to hold the weight of the unit while rotating the drum and cable and is commonly provided between the drum and locking arrangement. The feeding of cable into or out of the drain or conduit while the cable is rotating is accomplished by pushing and pulling the entire drain cleaning assembly by hand. Once a bend or obstruction is traversed, cable rotation is stopped and the locking device is released from the cable. The cable is then fed from the drum, further into the conduit, by hand. This procedure is often repeated a number of times to clear obstructions from a line.
Other devices that have been used to feed cable by a power feed source are not adapted to be used with hand held drain cleaners and utilize many rollers. Other devices use rollers that have grooves therein which mesh with grooves in the coiled cable. Devices using grooved rollers can only change the direction in which the cable is fed by reversing the rotation of the cable.